Weather Hinders Search for 6 in Bering Sea

Hampered by strong winds, high seas and a mere five-hour window of December daylight, rescuers searched Thursday for six people lost in the Bering Sea after a Coast Guard helicopter that had plucked them from their crippled freighter crashed in the darkness.

The ship they left behind ran aground and split apart, spilling thousands of gallons of fuel oil that threatened sensitive wildlife habitats on the western side of Unalaska Island in the Aleutian chain. Environmental officials said it could take months to clean up.

Searchers hoped the missing crew members had somehow lived through the night, but 43-degree waters reduced survival estimates to about three hours. Rescuers were hampered by seas that swelled to 20 feet and wind that hit 35 mph.

“Those high winds make flying difficult and is going to make for choppy seas,” Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Roger Wetherell said.

“If somebody is out there riding a wave, you may not see them,” he added.

There were 10 people on the helicopter -- seven from the ship and the aircraft’s three-member crew -- when it crashed into the sea Wednesday. Four were rescued by a second helicopter and in were good condition Thursday.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known.

The missing crew members included one Filipino and five people from India.

The captain of the freighter Selendang Ayu and a rescue swimmer who had remained on the vessel were also rescued shortly before the ship broke up.

Eighteen other crew members had been successfully evacuated earlier.

Rear Adm. James Olson said he did not know whether the missing crew members were wearing survival gear.

“The six crew members are still unaccounted for and there is fuel in the water,” Wetherell said.

The 738-foot freighter was carrying 480,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil and 21,000 gallons of diesel fuel along with a cargo of soybeans that were destined for China.

The area where the ship broke up is home to sea lions, northern fur seals, and a variety of birds and sea life.

Lynda Giguere, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said the spilled oil is dense and viscous.

“It’s not good stuff,” Giguere said.

The Coast Guard had been struggling to help the 40,000-ton freighter since Tuesday when it began drifting after its main engine failed, but bad weather hindered the efforts.

A tugboat had attached a line to the freighter on Tuesday evening, securing it for 12 hours. But then the line broke and the vessel resumed its path toward the island.

The crew dropped anchor when it reached shallow water, but it was lost in the rough seas after just half an hour.

The crew later dropped its other anchor, which for a while held the freighter nearly a mile from shore, Olson said.

The freighter was Malaysian-registered and owned by IMC Group of Singapore.

The company’s crew manager in Singapore, Loh C.W. Weng, said agents in India and the Philippines had contacted families of the crew.

“Of course, they feel very sad and want to know what is going on. They are praying very hard that everyone is OK. We are praying very hard for them,” Weng said.